The agreement established a process for banks to fix violations and remediate harm to borrowers, a committee of states and federal agencies said in a letter today to the New York Attorney General’s office, which claims Bank of America and Wells Fargo have violated the settlement.

The oversight process “will be the most efficient path to improving services to borrowers — and, we believe, will bring about those reforms more quickly than protracted litigation on these particular issues,” the committee wrote.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in May that he intended to bring an enforcement action against Bank of America and Wells Fargo for violating terms of last year’s settlement, which provided monetary relief to homeowners and sets requirements for servicing mortgages.

Schneiderman notified the monitoring committee of his plans, saying the banks violated standards for processing mortgage modifications from homeowners. Under terms of the settlement, reached with 49 states and the U.S., if the committee declines to pursue litigation, a state can pursue its own claim after an additional 21-day period, according to New York.

ISDA Master Agreement

The ISDA master agreement is the most commonly used master contract for OTC derivative transactions internationally. It is used to govern many of the financial transactions between the City of Detroit and Wall Street. Below are links to the agreement and sites with explanations.